I'm in San Diego (Ocean beach). It would seem to me that I need to practice more to really lock in the feel of how fast/slow i should travel, how far my stick out is and how rhythmic my motion should be.
Welders, welding, and stuff
- Thread starter 4runner DOA
- Start date
I'm in San Diego (Ocean beach). It would seem to me that I need to practice more to really lock in the feel of how fast/slow i should travel, how far my stick out is and how rhythmic my motion should be.
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2018
- Messages
- 386
- Age
- 42
If you’re using gas and welding outside, the wind can blow the gas away, giving you poor results. Practice on scrap the same size as your intended projects. The angle of the dangle is super important to watch, I find pushing the weld give more penetration. Pulling gives a cleaner /smoother weld. Most home wire/mig machine only safely weld to a 1/4-5/16” material. When learning, beat the shit out of stuff you’ve welded (practice scraps) and see where it breaks. Practicing is the only way. I’m not great, these are my meager tips. Hopefully you get comfortable with it. Post some pictures Enjoy the burn
85straight
Starbucks gold card holder
If we don’t get put on lock down your welcome to come over and I’ll give you a crash course. You can bring the machine too
In the middle of building a swing out for my bumper
85straight
Starbucks gold card holder
Also try just dragging the puddle first with no manipulation( weaving or whatever) need to learn to walk before you can run
sounds good. Have to see how things play out at the moment.
Stairgod
Two bad decisions away from buying a bulldozer
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2019
- Messages
- 2,451
That is very subjective. Seen many welders pass/fail regardless of heat input (i.e. hot and fasvs slow and cold).
The whole stringers vs weaves debate has been put to bed
85straight
Starbucks gold card holder
Didn’t mean for a debate but just to practice speed and angle for a beginner
Chris In Milwaukee
Ain’t no mo’
Have you watched anything from Jody at WeldingTipsAndTricks.com on YouTube? Pretty brilliant guy and great teacher. I’ve picked up a lot of great tips from him for TIG. I’ve never used a MIG, though.
Ended up doing some MIG in my buddies garage yesterday and noticed a few things. My stick out distance was too far, I was going too fast, perhaps not enough pressure from the gas before. Not amazing but I'm getting there it seems. Another practice run or two and I think I'll be good to go on doing some actual vehicle welding.
85straight
Starbucks gold card holder
Need pics!
most of us would be able to give you much better advice if we could see the welds
Dezert4Runner
Pineapples belong on pizza
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2018
- Messages
- 1,176
Welding pliers have a cutter that’s set to 3/8” stick out or whatever’s standard. It helps take out the guesswork when you’re starting out and eventually you can eyeball it and know if the wire needs to be snipped again before laying another bead.
Stairgod
Two bad decisions away from buying a bulldozer
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2019
- Messages
- 2,451
Travel speed looks a bit slow. Very pronounced bead, the edges aren't wetted in well to the parent metal. Slow travel speed will definitely increase the heat input into the base material and that can cause quite a bit of warpage.
I suggest cranking the voltage up and increasing travel speed.
Pretty even bead though, and deposition rate seems consistent. You are definitely on your way
Thanks! I was traveling too fast my first go around so it seems like I need to find the sweet spot. Voltage for the welder was already maxed (10) for the material so it looks like I should bump my speed a bit more to get a better bead. As far as wetting the material to the parent metal better how does one go about?
I was welding just two 1/8" 36" long pieces of flat stock / sheet metal so there was bound to be a lot of warpage, also didn't really let it cool for very long either. I didn't clean up any of the (brand new, just not clean) metal before hand out of sheer laziness (not good for MIG, i know). Tough to just weld them laying on the ground either since its hard to get eye level with the material to really see where you are.
Last edited:
Stairgod
Two bad decisions away from buying a bulldozer
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2019
- Messages
- 2,451
When everything is set right, the weld puddle will flow better and spread out more, ensuring good penetration and wetting of the edges. When taken too far, undercut can occur. Undercut is when there is too much heat and not enough filler material being added, and the parent metal ends up melting into the puddle. I still regularly have that issue with TIG when my filler hand is lazy...
Picture it this way. A tall concave "ropey" weld is too cold( not enough amperage, too high wire feed speed) and undercut is a sign being too hot (too much amperage, too low wire feed speed). Basically you want to be in the middle of those two situations.
Travel feed is the third ingredient in the recipe.
Hardest thing is everyone welds differently, and different machines require different settings.
Basically watch your puddle, and adjust as necessary. Weld profile is a very good indication of weld quality.
I suggest trying different settings on identical stock so you can see how they effect the weld profile. That will give you a very good picture of how changing certain parameters effects the weld.
Maybe just try changing wire feed speed while maintaining the same voltage and travel speed.
Travel speed is one of the hardest things to measure and keep consistent because that setting isn't on the welder, but in the welder
All right welding guru's. Yeah or neah?
https://www.amazon.com/Forney-Easy-...r_1_24?keywords=welder&qid=1585192329&sr=8-24
https://www.amazon.com/Forney-Easy-...r_1_24?keywords=welder&qid=1585192329&sr=8-24
Itaro
Seriously, FJB
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2018
- Messages
- 13,115
Not if the dumbs have anything to do with itDude you're about to get 2k from the gubbment. Buy something good.
Might buy a welder myself with this cash. Still waiting on another 2k in child support tax money though. Wonder if that's automatic or if someone actually has to push the button.